Wolf says his story sets him apart from other Democratic candidates for governor

WIKES-BARRE - The four Democrats running for governor in the upcoming primary have "modest differences" on issues, frontrunner Tom Wolf said Monday during an hour-long discussion with The Citizens' Voice editorial board.

"The difference as far as I am concerned is the story," said Wolf, a York County businessman. "Let's look at what the person has done in his or her life. This is a hiring decision I keep saying."

Wolf, 65, noted he "worked in the trenches in communities" and "worked in a village in India" while serving in the Peace Corps.

"I have actually driven a forklift and managed a hardware store, and built a business twice and served as secretary of revenue," Wolf said. "You can look at every one of those things, and I have done them well."

The primary election is in three weeks. Wolf has been leading in the polls since February.

He put $10 million of his own money into his campaign and borrowed almost $4.5 million of that total. He said he contributed the $10 million, explaining he can't use future campaign contributions to return the $10 million back to himself.

"I am not a career politician, so to get my name out there, I needed to tell my story," he added.

But Wolf said he backs "public support for elections" and campaign contribution limits in the state "to level the playing field."

He touted the success of his kitchen cabinet and building products company and said he decided to run for governor in 2010 while serving as state secretary of revenue under then-Gov. Ed Rendell. But he suspended that campaign in 2009 after learning the company he sold three years earlier was going bankrupt.

"The economy went in the tank, and so did my business, my old business," he said, explaining he negotiated a repurchase of the Wolf Organization and is running governor this year because the company is now thriving.

The other Democratic candidates for governor are state Treasurer Rob McCord, former state environmental protection secretary Katie McGinty and U.S. Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz. Gov. Tom Corbett faces Montgomery County businessman Robert Guzzardi in the Republican primary.

Wolf said he supports replacing the impact fee for natural gas drilling, which is based on the number and type of wells drilled, with a 5-percent severance tax based on the amount and value of gas extracted. The severance tax would generate $700 million in revenue for the general fund and would help fund public education, he said.

"It's 5 percent, I have chose it because we need to be competitive, and I need a rate that would pass quickly so that we could get the funds I think the state deserves," he said.

Wolf opposes drilling on state-owned forest land. He said he would permit local zoning decisions on drilling and added state regulators "can do it a lot better" to minimize health and environmental risks.

"It's a gamble," he said. "It has some environmental risks, but if we do it right, we can do it in a way that doesn't harm the environment and gives us the ability to bring in hundreds of millions of new dollars for things that are important to us, like education."

Wolf said he wants to reduce property taxes by allocating bigger education subsidies to school districts and perhaps by raising the income tax rate in a revenue-neutral fashion, but he doesn't want to completely eliminate property taxes.

The state can help create jobs by improving education and transportation, he said.

"Why does it take nine-and-half hours to get from Pittsburgh to New York by train? Why is it you can't go from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg by plane anymore? This is the 21st Century," Wolf said.

He said supports legalizing medical marijuana and decriminalizing marijuana possession of less than an ounce.

"And I am for taking a wait and see, to see what Washington and Colorado do, on whether we should move forward with full legalization," he said.

Wolf opposes selling state-owned wine and liquor stores, privatizing management of the Pennsylvania Lottery and imposing 401(k)-style retirement plans for new state employees. He also said he is against legislation that would change the current collective-bargaining process for teachers, which allows strikes.

mbuffer@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2073, @cvmikebuffer

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